These are to illustrate the dimensions of the frames, and how they will fit in the box. One of the blue squares = 1"

Basically I'm going to buy strips of wood, 1"x.25" and cut to the right lengths, then cut out slots in one side of the frame for the LCD/Fresnels to rest in, so that they aren't compressed between the 2 sides of the frame. I'm wondering, should I use hot glue, bolts, or some other method to assemble the frames?




The bottom spacers are 2 pieces of 1"x.5" wood. Not sure yet how long. I was thinking 4" would be enough. They are set in the bottom corners of the box. The LCD frame support piece is also 1"x.5", and placed under the LCD frame to seal the bottom to create the airflow path from between the LCD and back fresnel to the light box. Tell me what you think please, I'll post some diagrams of different angles tomorrow(I mean....today!)

I'm angry with myself.

I sanded the grooves in the frame, set the LCD in so it fit nicely, and caulked it all together and it fits well in the box as-is, without any extra sanding of the outer edges.


Then I remembered that I should have been taking pictures!!!

Well now the best I can do is some pics of the assembled sled, which I'll put up soon.

On a happier note, I havent started the fresnel frames yet, so I will take pictures along the way with them!

Sweet, can't wait to see more pictures.

Thank you for posting that, I have been desperately trying to figure out a way to mount my LCD ... by looking at those pictures i think i have come up with a solution (hopefully).. i will post pics in my blog once i make it happe.

So, for a more detailed explanation-

For the frames, since Home Depot didnt have the 1/4" x 1" strips, I bought 1/4" x 1+3/8" instead. This turned out to be a good decision, since I disovered that if I used 1" wide pieces against the edges of the enclosure as in the previous diagrams, they would overlap the edges of the viewing area of the LCD.

So, I also purchased a Dremel rotary tool knockoff by Black & Decker and a small rotary saw attachment that will cut up to 1/4" thick wood, and the 1/2" enclosure wood as well if I cut on both sides.

Real life seems to always differ from those perfect diagrams we all like to make(dont we all like to make perfect diagrams of stuff?), so the frame actually ended up needing to measure 13+7/8" x 10+7/8" on the outer edges, with a 12" x 9+1/8" cutout to accomodate the viewing area of the 15" LCD. I can list the resulting dimensions of all the pieces, but only if requested.

The fresnels are a slightly different size than the LCD panel, but the dimensions of the frame will be the same. The grooves in the frame will need to be different to fit the fresnels.

I am concerned about how to make the fresnels adjustable for centering relative to each other. Most likely I will just sand the grooves in the frames oversized so the lenses can move in their frames, then I will hot glue one fres in, stack the frames so the edges are aligned, then line up the second fres, and hot glue again.
Sounds like a cool plan that I just made up as typing.
Discuss.

You're very welcome-I also found it difficult. It seems that alot of people post pictures of thier sleds, completed or not, but a diagram always helps immensely to get ideas across. FYI, those were made by hand(PIXEL EDITING!!1) in MS paint, and took 4 hours. Not to mention those hours were between 11pm and 3am! So by all means, COPY THEM!!! USE THEM!!! They deserve it.

I first considered using the original aluminum front piece along with the plastic piece that holds the backlight together to mount. I see alot of people do this. However, it was not right for me, as I do not want to build a sled, but just the individual frames, and then mount them directly in the box.

BE CAREFUL to not make the LCD fit too tightly in the wood frame if you are mounting it in the box like me, where even small amounts of diagonal pressure may be applied to the frame from the enclosure walls. It would probably be a better idea to make the LCD frame out of one piece, instead of joining pieces at the corners.

Good luck on your build, Shiver. I will look for your PLOG.

MS Paint? How on earth did you make those circular grooves in the fresnels? That's incredible.

I'd love to brag, but MS paint has a 'cirlce drawing' feature. All I did was click and drag-yes for each one. Hence the 4 hours! heheheh

I made one drawing that was the 'fresnel', and imposed it over the other pics, with white being transparent.(Make white the right-click color, then select the area you want to copy, and theres a little box in the bar with the tools that is for making a color transparent!)

Lots of pics of the LCD and collimator frame posted in the PLOG (Post #10-12):

the PLOG